Online Courses for the 2012 Winter Session

The purpose of this course is to familiarize students with some of the theological trends and voices characterizing Anglican theology in the twentieth century, as well as to consider how these voices and movements can be integrated into contemporary pastoral and ministerial practice. Theologians to be studied include: Gore, Underhill, Temple, Mascall, Pittenger, Macquarrie, Sykes, Heyward, Tutu, Williams, and others. Theological trends will include modernism, spirituality, liturgical renewal, Anglo-Catholicism, process thought, incarnation, feminism, political and liberation theology, etc. The course will conclude with a consideration of future trends in Anglican theology. Weekly readings, two short essays, class presentation.

This course provides an in-depth exploration of two central Christian doctrines - the Trinity and the person of Christ - as well as reflection on the role of Holy Scripture and the nature of theology. This is the first part of a two-part sequence in basic Christian doctrine. Online lectures, discussion board postings, final paper.

This course is designed to enable participants to understand, develop and encourage faithful leadership in Christian schools. The vision of Christian schooling that leaders seek to sustain is not simply their own, but school leaders are a vital link in the translation of parents' priorities into the life of classrooms. Participants will examine leadership and management structures critically in light of: communal and personal educational focus and values; the need to nurture community; the need to sustain a dynamic vision for schooling. This online course employs an extensive Study Guide, a book, book chapters and journal articles, with an online discussion forum and Skype/telephone conferencing. Participation in the forum and a professionally-oriented research paper will provide the basis for evaluation.

This course is designed to enable participants to understand, develop and encourage faithful leadership in Christian schools. The vision of Christian schooling that leaders seek to sustain is not simply their own, but school leaders are a vital link in the translation of parents' priorities into the life of classrooms. Participants will examine leadership and management structures critically in light of: communal and personal educational focus and values; the need to nurture community; the need to sustain a dynamic vision for schooling. This online course employs an extensive Study Guide, a book, book chapters and journal articles, with an online discussion forum and Skype/telephone conferencing. Participation in the forum and a professionally-oriented research paper will provide the basis for evaluation.

Introduction to the art and science of preaching. Topics: exegesis and hermeneutics for the purpose of preaching, techniques of sermon preparation, structure and delivery. Written assignments, small groups, one sermon.

A survey of Medieval and Reformation Theologies, from 843 to 1648. The Carolingian Revival and Monastic Schools; Anselm and Cur Deus Homo; Peter Lombard and the Cathedral Schools; Abailard and the Universities; the rediscovery of Aristotle; the Friars: Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, William of Occam; Gregory Palamas; the Reformation: Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin, Thomas Cranmer; the Synod of Dort; Richard Hooker; Second Scholasticism.

Introductory study of the Anglican communion as a worldwide form of Christianity; its history, key theological issues, worship, schools of thought, approaches to spirituality. 3 short papers. Interdisciplinary History and Theology.

This course on the Old Testament presents an overview of the Hebrew canon and explores the content, theological themes, and canonical shaping of selected books. Students will be introduced to the history and geography ancient Israel. Additional emphasis will be on interpreting this material as Scripture of the Church. Readings and audio lectures. Weekly assignments, online discussion, final paper.

An introduction to the four Gospels in their social, historical and theological settings. Using a "socio-literary" approach, we will study the Gospels within a two-dimensional framework, both centred on what the early Christians called the "gospel" or "Kerygma." One dimension has to do with social history — the origin and development of Christianity as a distinct social entity, from its foundations in the ministry of Jesus and the Easter experience, through its emergence as a Jewish renewal movement, and on to its development into a separate, largely Gentile, institutionalized religion. The second dimension has to do with literature — the process by which the Gospels came to be written, their literary form and texture, and their character as narrative versions of the "gospel." Weekly online lectures, assigned analysis/reflection papers, discussion board postings.

An introduction to the grammar and syntax of Koine Greek. Students will also develop a basic proficiency in reading and pronouncing the text of the Greek New Testament. Lecture, group work, evaluation of Greek pronunciation. Weekly assignments midterm project, final exam. Prerequisite: New Testament Greek 1 or equivalent.

This introductory course surveys the history of atheism and secularization from the mid-eighteenth-century Western European Enlightenment to the present. We will not only read selections from some of the most important English, Scottish, German, and American atheists, agnostics, and rationalists of the period, but also examine and discuss how contemporary political and social thought contributed to the rise of secular thought and gradual decline in theological orthodoxy. The course will demonstrate how the writings of atheists and theological rationalists have always been predicated on significant intellectual and emotional tensions between orthodox Christianity and contemporary culture. Participation, research summary, book report, online final exam.

This introductory historiographical course surveys select “sacred” and “profane” works of church history by some of the most important ecclesiastical historians and philosophers active from the mid-first century AD until the mid-twentieth century. Participation in online discussion group, research paper, critical response/book report, online final exam.